The present invention relates to a method and component for the display and definition of one or more discontiguous sub-ranges within a range.
xe2x80x9cThe Java Foundation Class library (JFC) includes the Java interface javax.swing.ListSelectionModel. This interface defines services in support of the notion of a selected sub-range or sub-set of items or elements from an available range or set of items or elements. It provides for three operational modes, including one mode that allows for multiple discontiguous selected sub-ranges of items, Furthermore, the JFC includes the Java class javax.swing.JList, which can present and modify a ListSelectionModel as a vertical list of items, each supporting selection emphasis. The JList class supports many standard user interactions, using a pointing device such as a mouse, or using the keyboard, that allow the set of selected items to be modified.xe2x80x9d
However, the JList is primarily intended to be a self contained user interface component in that it presents items for selection, and allows their selection, in a single component, Support is offered for textual items, and a generalised mechanism is provide plugging in item renderers for non-textual items
The present invention provides a range selector component for the display and definition of discontiguous sub-ranges from within a range, said component comprising: means for displaying said range selector component and one or more discontiguous sub-ranges within the range of said component; and means, responsive to pointer interaction with said rendered range selector component, for defining said one or more discontiguous sub-ranges; said defining means being responsive to pointer selection within a sub-range to split said sub-range into two sub-ranges.
The invention treats contiguous selections as a sub-range entity that can be directly manipulated, allowing more rapid interaction suited to certain exploratory tasks. In a preferred embodiment, arbitrary segment sizes, each corresponding to an element or item, are supported by the component.